This mural, located on Broad Street in Stapleton, covers the side brick wall of Lakruwana restaurant, which opened last month at 668 Bay St.
(Staten Island Advance/Irving Silverstein)

STATEN ISLAND, NY - STAPLETON - A large new mural on Broad Street brightens the neighborhood with rich red and golden-yellow tones, and introduces the pageantry of a famous annual religious festival in Sri Lanka. The mural covers the long side brick wall of Lakruwana restaurant, which opened last month at 668 Bay St.

The mural on Broad Street, covering the side brick wall of Lakruwana restaurant at 688 Bay St., Stapleton, details musicians, drummers and dancers who are taking part in a famous annual religious festival in Sri Lanka.
(Staten Island Advance/Virginia N. Sherry)

"It's a parade and festival that we call the Kandy Perahera," explained Stapleton resident Lakruwana Wijesinghe, the restaurant's owner, referring to the town of Kandy in central Sri Lanka where the Buddhist festival is celebrated over a 10-day period. An elaborately decorated elephant leads the parade, carrying the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha. Musicians, drummers, and dancers join the procession.